374 



CONSERVATION 



is understood that over 400 persons are now 

 in the work of the bureau. A dozen years 

 ago almost nothing was known about forestry 

 in this country. During the past few years 

 Mr. Pinchot has attained a world-wide repu- 

 tation on account of his work in developing 

 the Forest Service. Probably no factor ha? 

 contributed more to the success of this work 

 than Mr. Pinchot's attitude in getting close to 

 the soilj and doubtless no item of his policy 

 has brought greater practical results than his 

 practical assistance for forest owners. Mr. 

 Pinchot's career is an excellent illustration of 

 what a man of independent wealth may ac- 

 complish when he devotes his life along lines 

 for the betterment of the public." 



Mr, Pinchot at Delta 



In the course of his recent western trip 

 Mr. Gifford Pinchot visited Delta, Colo. 

 At his meeting the Opera House was packed 

 to the doors. The Delta independent said : 



"But very little opposition has ever devel- 

 oped on the western slope to the forestry 

 system, and in Delta and Montrose counties 

 there doesn't seem to be any at all. The stock 

 interests here appear to be a unit in its favor, 

 hence the head of the Service found himself 

 entirely among friends." 



In the course of his remarks, as reported in 

 the Delta papers, Mr. Pinchot said : 



"The Service is for the public good instead 

 of private gain and to provide more homes 

 for our people. 



''The forest policy is both democratic and 

 republican and fights special privilege for 

 public good. 



"It is probable that our coal measures will 

 be exhausted by the middle of the next cen- 

 tury. Our iron ore will be gone in forty 

 years and our supply of oil and gas in about 

 the same time. 



"At the inauguration of the Forest Service 

 we found that there was great waste of our 

 resources going on. As an illustration ninety 

 per cent, of our water, which is so much 

 needed in the arid sections, was going to 

 waste. By the middle of the century 

 150,000,000 of our own people will have to 

 be fed from our own soil and no good citizen 

 will deny that the people should apply the 

 same rules to the government of the nation 

 that one would to his family, and that noth- 

 ing be wasted. 



"Monopoly is the opposite of conservation. 

 Foresight is necessary to success. Conserva- 

 tion means the ordinary business principles 

 applied to government. 



"The forest areas are great and evils creep 

 into the Service, but with the cooperation of 

 local people we can succeed in our work. We 

 have endeavored to ascertain where wrongs 

 have been done so that we might remedy 

 them. Complaints have been of two classes : 

 From those who could not get what they 

 should have, and from those who wanted 

 what thev should not have. To the latter we 



have no apologies to make. This Service 

 stands for the small man the home-maker. 

 Prospectors may enter the reserves for le- 

 gitimate work, but we do not intend to allow 

 persons to take up land, under the guise of 

 mining, for some other purpose. 



"We are pushing out the work of the 

 Service from Washington to the various dis- 

 trict offices, to those on the ground, and we 

 believe that the men in the districts are good 

 men. Before leaving Washington I saw 

 President Taft and he said to tell the people 

 out in Colorado that the administration is 

 back of the Forest Service and is trying to 

 work with the people of the West for their 

 own best good. 



"If, by mistake, injustice has been done to 

 any man, it will be corrected, so far as I 

 have the power. 



"The general forest policy has been estab- 

 lished, and it will move along under the new 

 administration as under the old. 



"I do not believe the change in presidents 

 will have any effect on the forest policy ; 

 I have seen no signs of it. 



"Of the total amount received from those 

 who received direct benefits from the use of 

 the varied resources of the National Forests 

 of Colorado last year, twenty-five per cent., 

 " r $59,761.28, was turned over to the state to 

 be used in the development and maintenance 

 of roads and the public-school system. 



"The Forest Service exists not only to 

 protect the National Forests. It exists just 

 as much to develop the Nation and the states 

 in which they lie, arid it has no stronger de- 

 sire than to promote and foster the develop- 

 ment of Colorado and every other western 

 state. No more complete mistake about the 

 National Forests has ever been spread abroad 

 than that they are shut against development 

 and use." 



Mr. Pinchot was listened to with the ut- 

 most attention, and at the conclusion of his 

 address he was heartily applauded. 



Other speakers, including Hon. Frank C. 

 Goudy, John C. Bell, M. D. Vincent, and 

 Judge A. R. King, also spoke. 



To Examine National Forest Boundaries 



The Forest Service plans a thoroughgoing 

 examination of National Forest boundaries 

 ?nd an inquiry into the character of any in- 

 ferior areas which may appear to be unsuited 

 for National Forest purposes. Special effort 

 will be made to exclude from the National 

 Forests land better suited for agriculture 

 than for forest purposes. 



Withdrawal of Public Lands 



The Secretary of the Interior has tempo- 

 rarily withdrawn from any form of disposi- 

 tion whatever under the public-land laws 

 the following tracts of land : 



